PGI fails optimal use of emergency infrastructure

Despite having ample infrastructure to deal with the emergency and critical care, the premier medical institute and hospital the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh has failed to utilise it optimally.

Despite having ample infrastructure to deal with the emergency and critical care, the premier medical institute and hospital the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh has failed to utilise it optimally.

The institute has failed to start cardiac emergency in the Advanced Cardiac Center despite the fact that the center was opened for the patients around four years back. The issue has been discussed time-to-time as despite having state-of-the-art-building the cardiac emergency is being run from the crowded old emergency building.

According to sources in the PGIMER administration, the issue once again came up for discussion during an important meeting of the PGIMER, which was doing brain storming to decongest the emergency department of institute. However the cardiology department said that they lack diagnostic support, so the cardiac emergency can't be shifted to Advanced Cardiac Centre. It is happening despite the fact that the building has complete separate block to deal with emergency cases.

Significantly, if Advanced Cardiac Centre starts its own emergency, it will help to reduce burden on the main emergency of the institute, which is dealing with the cases three times more than its bed capacity.

It is an established practice at the PGIMER that each of the advanced center is running emergency services from their own premises.

Similar is the situation with the Advanced Trauma Centre, where there are total five operation theatres. Out of these five operation theatres, only two are functional despite it was opened for the public one-and-half-year back. The functional operation theatres are also used by orthopedics department.

The sources revealed that even Dr SN Mathuria, who is head of neurosurgery department and incharge of head trauma at PGI has written to the director PGIMER to start the remaining operation theatres immediately, so that head injury cases could be operated in the advanced trauma center operation theatre. According to faculty member from neurosurgery department, if the remaining two operation theatres are started, it will double the number of surgeries being done in the trauma center.

In wake of the incidents involving people misusing their licensed weapons in unlawful activities, district police is mulling to cancel licenses. The district has seen about 15 cases in last eight months where residents have been found using their licensed weapons.

"Such firing incident inculcate fear among the residents and in most of cases investigations have revealed that accused have used their licensed weapons. We would be initiating a campaign to cancel licenses of such people who have been found misusing their licensed weapons. Arms licenses are issued for self protection and not for misusing weapons to spread panic," said Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, SSP SAS Nagar.